Ok, just when I crawl to the top of the hill of knowledge, I see over the horizon an even bigger hill to climb.

So I was planning on getting some .45acp dies this weekend. I checked out Cabelas and see Hornady .45 ACP offered in Roll Crimp and Taper Crimp. The roll crimps being available and taper on backorder. I do the obvoius, Hm... "I wonder what the difference is" and whip up some google foo. Apparently .45acp is supposed to be taper crimped and not roll crimped, but Hornady dies have always been Roll. Same for 9mm it seems. Hm.... well so what do I do?? Remember Im just starting down the road called Reloading so there is something new to be discovered, even when you read it 5 times in a book. Its not till some cross reference makes a connection, like the Cabelas site listing 2 crimps in the die sets. It also makes sence now why I read of people splitting Seating and Crimping into separate steps.

So my question to the reloaders with .45acp experience, what do you do? Madpick- are you just using the old Hornady die set with the roll crimp? Your stuff come out ok?

I never crimped pistol rounds for plinking or anything else other than rifle! From others I been told no point crimping pistol loads.

But I would like to hear others thoughts on this!

Oly, are you saying that Hornady sells 45ACP die sets with a roll-crimping die of some kind? Or did you see an individual .45-caliber die that does roll crimps?

I'm wondering if you saw a .45 Colt die....?

The rimless and rebated rim cases for pistols head space on the case moutmp shortens the case by a few 1000 ths. The taper crimp does just that, tapers the case mouth to a snug fit but still allowing tcase to head space on the case mouth.
If you are having problems with the bullet setting back in the case when the slide goes into battery, you might want to use the Lee factory crimp die. Relatively inexpensive solution to prevent a possible setback problem. When I use 9mm (.355 dia) in my 38 super (.357 dia) I get setback unless I use the factory crimp die. I cannot always get the .357 bullets for the super.

What he said^^ plus--

Be careful you don't over-crimp, even with a taper crimp die. this can have the same effect as roll crimping for an auto-loader and allow the case to headspace off the extractor rather than the case mouth. This isn't usually the end of the world but it can cause some interesting issues with primers and functioning of the firearm.

The main purpose of he taper crimp is to merely return the case mouth dimension to what it was before the expander die put the "bell" on it. Ideally bullet setback is controlled by neck tension but as Trigger Dr stated, some pistols need just a little bit more.

I use the taper crimp on all my pistol rounds.

No these were listed on the Cabelas site as .45ACP

Interesting. I didn't know they offered two kinds.

As the experts described above, you want the taper crimp version for a semi-auto.

There are some revolvers that shoot .45ACP; maybe the roll crimp version is for those.

Steve- Do you have the Hornady Dies for .45acp? I know you load that caliber. Do you taper crimp?

Shit, now I need to go check my dies.....

Yes, I use .45ACP Hornady dies and I taper crimp.

So did your die set come with the Taper Crimp? It sounds like this is a new development for them, or do you use an extra offline crimp?

Should I be worried my 9mm's arent right?

I think Im calling Hornady after Lunch.....

No, I just use the seating die. It seats and crimps in one step.



No. Your 9mm seating/crimping die is the same way. (You do have the Hornady dies, right?) As long as the diameter of the case mouth is the correct diameter after you seat the bullet (.376"-.380"), and the bullet won't push into the case when you turn it upside down and push down on your bench with a reasonable effort, then you're good to go.

It would also be prudent, after you chamber a reload by dropping the slide (NOT easing it forward), to pull the round and make sure the bullet isn't set back.